Brookes uses Pirellis to win MCE British Superbike Championship!
Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) has been crowned MCE British Superbike Champion using Pirelli rubber. In a thrilling weekend of racing at Brands Hatch Brookes used the softer (SC0) Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike rear tyre to log pole position and two race wins in varying conditions.
Although some riders used the harder SC1 rear tyre in Saturday’s race including James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) and Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW), all riders switched to the softer option for Sunday’s two races.
Brooks came to the final weekend of the MCE British Superbikes filled with confidence, and he proved why by topping qualifying and winning two of the three races.
Race one was a battle between the championship rivals Brookes and Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki), but Brookes made the move, and made it stick. He then created a five second gap over the four-time BSB champion who finished in second place. Joining the pair on the podium was John Hopkins (Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati).
Race two followed the same form as race one, and again Brookes was able to take the lead and finish four seconds ahead of Byrne. This time Laverty joined the podium.
The final race of the weekend, and the championship, was expected to be won once again by Brookes but after a poor start the Australian was left sitting in seventh position. While Laverty, Ellision and Byrne all battled for the lead, Brookes made his way up the field to second position, but after a mistake he clipped the kerb and crashed out, his first DNF of the season. This provided a great battle for first between the three riders, and eventually Laverty took his first win of the year followed by Ellison and Byrne.
David Bogie wins Cambrian Rally on Pirelli tyres
The final round of the BTRDA Rally Series took place last weekend and the winner of the North Wales-based Cambrian Rally was David Bogie.
The Ford Fiesta R5 driver ran Pirelli tyres and won by a comfortable 54-second margin despite being up against a variety of other R5 cars – and some World Rally machinery too.
Bogie, a five-time MSA Scottish Rally Champion, was competing in the Cambrian Rally as part of his preparation for Wales Rally GB. The Cambrian event runs similar stages to those Rally GB will use on November 13-15.
“We started the Cambrian on the KM6, which is a really good tyre and is a tyre I know well,” said Bogie. “I was first on the road so the conditions on the first pass were muddy and there were pine needles on the corners. But on the second pass it had cleaned up and I ran the K6 Pirelli. It was good to win by quite a margin. The last time I was in Wales was in March for Rally North Wales so this was good preparation for GB.”
Bogie and co-driver Kevin Rae will use Pirelli tyres on Wales Rally GB, and will continue their build-up to that event on the Galloway Hills Rally in Scotland this weekend.Strong Pirelli showing on Cambrian Rally
Nine of the top 10 finishers on last weekend’s Cambrian Rally competed on Pirelli tyres. The winner, David Bogie, wasn’t registered for REIS Ravenol BTRDA Rally Series points and so the maximum points score went to Luke Francis in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9.
Francis and co-driver John H Roberts saw off competition from a strong entry that included five World Rally Cars and a handful of R5-specification cars. The Moffett brothers, Sam and Josh, entered the event in their Ford Fiesta RS WRCs and finished third and fourth in what was their second BTRDA event of the year.
Finishing fifth was Hugh Hunter and Andy Marchbank, who ran Pirelli tyres on their new Ford Fiesta R5 car. Russ Thompson finished 10th in his Pirelli-shod Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 but that wasn’t quite enough for him to win the BTRDA Production Cup. Having entered eight rounds already, his points didn’t count towards his total for the season.Titles awarded in Pirelli-backed Dutch Supercar Challenge!
A wet Assen circuit hosted the final two rounds of the Dutch Supercar Challenge Powered by Pirelli. Triumphing in the top-class Super GT championship was Roger Grouwels and Kelvin Snoecks. They only finished fifth in the second race in their Dodge Viper GT3-R but it was enough to secure the title.
That encounter was won by Peter Kox and Nico Pronk in their McLaren, while the first race was won by Henry Zumbrink in his Volvo S60 V8.
The other title winners included Belgian duo Patrick Lamster and Donald Miller, who took the GTB championship in their Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, and Koen Bogaert, Mark van der Aa and Pieter van Soelen, who won in Supersport in their BMW M3 WTCC. The Sports category went to Wiebe Wytzes in his Renault Clio.
Luc de Cock and Sam Dejonghe won the Superlights S1 series in their Norma M20F and Belgian driver Filip Declerq, also in a Norma M20F, took the Super Lights S2 category.
Coming up next time: We preview the final round of the Power Maxed MINI Challenge, and we chat to some of the drivers that have bagged championships using Pirelli products in 2015.
